County Testing Water Epa Going After Harmful Metals

Hundreds of water customers in Palm Beach County will get free tests of their tap water for lead and copper on orders from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The testing is the first of its kind, water officials said. Water from pipes leading to meters are tested twice annually by local utilities, but this sampling is of water from a house`s internal plumbing.

The sampling is required by the EPA for houses built between 1983 and 1986. In 1986, the federal government banned the use of lead solder on copper plumbing because of concerns about water contamination.

On Wednesday, Delray Beach Water Utilities will begin distributing 100 one- liter bottles to residents of single-family houses, Water Plant Superintendent Don Haley said on Friday.

In Boca Raton, the water department has already collected a dozen water samples from volunteers, and Boynton Beach is getting its program ready.

To meet EPA testing guidelines, water must be allowed to sit for six hours.

``It`s kind of a problem trying to catch people`s water where it`s been sitting for six hours, unless we barge into their houses first thing in the morning or meet them at the door when they come home from work,`` said Don Kree, quality control chief for Boca Raton Public Utilities.

Because of the problem, the water departments are identifying houses built within the period and asking residents to take the samples themselves. Utility department workers will deliver and pick up the bottles.

Though the federal government required the tests and ordered utilities to set up monitoring programs, it did not set aside any money, said Fred Rapach, senior environmental officer for Palm Beach County Water Utilities. The cost has to be absorbed by the water utility, which eventually will pass it on to the customers, officials said.

``Preparing the program, monitoring and sampling is going to cost a huge amount of money. We don`t know how much yet,`` Rapach said.

Delray Beach`s Haley said that even with the city`s in-house laboratory, the sampling of 100 houses should cost about $25 each for manpower and analysis. If the samples had to be analyzed by an outside lab, the cost would be about $60 for each test, Haley said.

Officials at all four utilities said they have not had problems with high levels of lead or copper because their water is either non-corrosive to plumbing or because the water is treated to prevent corrosion.

If unacceptable levels are found in the water, the utilities are required to reduce the corrosiveness of their water further so homeowners will not be forced to install new plumbing.

``We`ll tell them what the results were and what it means, but really, the water utilities will have to deal with any problems,`` Kree said.

For more information or to volunteer for the program, call:

-- In Boca Raton, 338-7327 or 338-7328;

-- In Delray Beach, 243-7317;

-- In Boynton Beach, 738-7460;

-- In unincorporated areas, 278-5135 in south Palm Beach County or 641-3429 for the main West Palm Beach office.